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A review by gigireadswithkiki
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This book doesn't deserve anything less than 5 stars, and I cannot stress enough how impressive it is that this "They Can't Kill Us Until This Kill Us" is so much more than a memoir, fluidly shifting into an in-depth critique about the multi-faceted American music industry and a poetically written dissection on being Black in America, both facets that Hanif Abdurraqib writes in parallel to his own life.
For such a short book, Abdurraqib manages to encompass a plethora of topics, while also managing to make the essays feel both cohesive and nuanced. As a long time fan of her music, I really liked his essays on Carly Rae Jepsen and her brand of joy and longing, but honestly every single one of these pieces are a masterwork in observation and critical analysis. This book was phenomenal, I cannot wait to read through the rest of Abdurraqib's works.
For such a short book, Abdurraqib manages to encompass a plethora of topics, while also managing to make the essays feel both cohesive and nuanced. As a long time fan of her music, I really liked his essays on Carly Rae Jepsen and her brand of joy and longing, but honestly every single one of these pieces are a masterwork in observation and critical analysis. This book was phenomenal, I cannot wait to read through the rest of Abdurraqib's works.